Indisputable Violations: What Happens When the United States Unambiguously Breaches a Treaty?

Transcription

1 53 Indisputable Violations: What Happens When the United States Unambiguously Breaches a Treaty? The United States justifiably prides itself on its devotion to the rule of law. We take legal instruments seriously; when we assume a binding legal obligation at home, we mean it, and we expect all parties to the agreement to demonstrate comparable fealty. This commitment to the law also extends to international agreements. Treaties are the coin of the international realm, and the United States leads the world both in making treaties and in publicly and pointedly holding others accountable when they fall short of full compliance. 1 What happens, then, when the United States contravenes a binding international legal obligation in a manner so obvious and unarguable that it can offer no defense to the charge of breach? It happens more often than one might think and to more important treaties than one would hope, including treaties for which the United States continues to depend upon fastidious performance by other countries. Here, I present three illustrative cases studies of blatant U.S. violations of binding international legal obligations: the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and the obligation to pay annual dues under the Charter of the United Nations. I explain the causes of these breaches and examine their adverse consequences for the United States and for the international rule of law. David A. Koplow is Professor of Law and Direc tor of the Center for Applied Legal Studies at Georgetown University Law Center. He was Special Counsel for Arms Control to the General Counsel, U.S. Department of Defense, Washington, DC, from 2009 to 2011.

2 54 the fletcher forum of world affairs TWO STREAMS OF LAW First, however, a bit of background about the two independent and somewhat-competing streams of legal authority governing treaties. On the one hand, under Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, a treaty, as a matter of domestic law, is the supreme Law of the Land. Only the Constitution is superior to a treaty and the latter has the equivalent legal dignity of a statute. Article II of the Constitution further states that the President of the United States has the obligation to take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed. Juxtaposing these texts, it is black letter law that a treaty must be enforced unless it runs afoul of a provision of the Constitution (noting that a treaty may be invalidated as unconstitutional in the same sense as a statute) or if it is superseded by a directly contrary stipulation in a subsequently enacted statute. On the other hand, international law presents a somewhat different hierarchy of legal rules. From the perspective of international jurisprudence, the foundational prescription is pacta sunt servanda; treaties are to be respected and international obligations must be obeyed. Treaties and other forms of international law, therefore, occupy the apex of the legal pyramid and all domestic authorities of any particular country whether denominated as rules of its national constitution, ordinary legislation, or in any other manner are subsidiary. A country may not, under this system, interpose domestic law as a justification for its failure to meet treaty requirements. If it could, there would not be much point in concluding such agreements. The President of the United States may therefore occasionally be handcuffed by this amalgamation of distinct legal authorities. If a valid treaty imposes an obligation, international law will demand adherence to it. However, if the same treaty violates the Constitution or if a subsequent domestic statute were to contain a contradictory obligation, the President s ability to fulfill international obligations would be constrained. The United States must then adhere to domestic law and violate the treaty, or develop a creative mechanism to reconcile the contradictory requirements of the treaty and the statute. U.S. institutions have demonstrated great zeal in attempting to find or invent such harmonization, but it is not always possible. A MATTER OF INTERPRETATION In practice, violations of international law are not usually formally adjudicated. The world s leading international judicial tribunal, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), typically resolves only two or three

3 INDISPUTABLE VIOLATIONS: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE UNITED STATES UNAMBIGUOUSLY BREACHES A TREATY? 55 cases per year, and it does not possess automatic jurisdictional power over the United States, Russia, China, and other leading international actors who have not submitted themselves to the Court s mandatory authority. Some other international courts, such as the European Court of Justice, are more active, but even the most successful do not exercise the same primacy in the global arena that U.S. courts enjoy domestically. Aside from judicial institutions, the United Nations Security Council holds the power to resolve disputes in a compulsory fashion. However, the veto power ensures that the five permanent members and their allies are protected against any adverse findings or orders. The court of world public opinion can be meaningful too, but its judgments are often murky. Debates about putative treaty violations are also often inconclusive because international law, like domestic U.S. law, is frequently contestable. For example, the rules for demarcating a disputed land or maritime boundary or the interpretation of a World Trade Organization obligation about improper barriers to international trade can be obscure, ambiguous, and debatable. Often, the United States (or any other country) adopts a certain interpretation of the treaty. If the issue becomes a cause célèbre, the United States might win or lose the debate over its interpretation. But if the matter is truly one on which countries could reasonably disagree, there may not be much embarrassment for a country that has in good faith advanced what subsequently turns out to be only a minority position. We should not overstate this ambivalence there are plenty of instances in which the United States publicly adopted a legal posture wholly at odds with the mainstream opinion of the world legal community. The recent U.S. arguments that waterboarding was not torture, for example, or that extraordinary rendition was legally permissible, failed the international laugh test. In the 1999 NATO bombing campaign against Serbia to arrest the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo, the United States did not have a real legal justification to propound, since it was acting without authorization from the Security Council and without a self-defense rationale. But the The recent U.S. arguments that waterboarding was not torture, for example, or that extraordinary rendition was legally permissible, failed the international laugh test. point is that in most of those instances, the United States at least had something to say. It may have only been a half-baked legal theory, a justification that rested on impressionistic legitimacy rather than strict lawfulness,

4 56 the fletcher forum of world affairs or a nuanced rationale that inspired precious little international resonance. But at least U.S. representatives had a story to offer by way of defense, explanation, or mitigation. At other times, however, the U.S. position garners absolutely no legal support and deserves none. On multiple occasions, the United States has joined a valid treaty, helped bring it into legal force, accepted the obligations and the benefits that come with it, and then unarguably and ostentatiously violated the treaty. As detailed in the three cases below, the United States has a history of flatly breaching commitments and, when challenged, having nothing to assert in its defense. THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION The 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) constitutes a comprehensive and nearly universal bulwark against chemical warfare. Its ambitious scope is reflected in the preamble, in which the parties declare themselves determined, for the sake of all mankind, to exclude completely the possibility of the use of chemical weapons. The treaty has attracted 188 parties and the detail and specificity of its terms represent state of the art arms control verification methodology. By any measure, it is one of the most significant and successful disarmament agreements in history. Parties to the CWC commit to never develop, produce, acquire, retain, transfer, or use chemical weapons and to destroy their existing stockpiles. The treaty lays out a timetable for the elimination of existing weapons called the order of destruction with interim benchmarks until the tenth year. By then, each party must have incinerated, chemically neutralized, or otherwise destroyed 100 percent of its declared chemical weapon inventory. If a party experiences difficulty meeting these deadlines, it can apply for an extension, but the treaty stipulates that in no case may the final deadline for completing the entirety of the chemical weapon elimination exceed a total of fifteen years. Unsurprisingly, the United States and Russia declared the overwhelming majority of the world s chemical weapon stocks, with approximately 30,000 tons and 40,000 tons respectively. Five other countries (Albania, India, Iraq, Libya, and South Korea) had, or still have, much smaller chemical weapon reserves to wrestle with. The two chemical leviathans devoted time, technology, and treasure to the chore of destroying the chemical reservoirs that each had so assiduously assembled during the Cold War. For the United States, the destruction process has consumed an estimated $28 billion to date.

5 INDISPUTABLE VIOLATIONS: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE UNITED STATES UNAMBIGUOUSLY BREACHES A TREATY? 57 The CWC entered into force on April 29, 1997 and made April 29, 2012 the final deadline for completing the chemical weapon destruction operations, even with the single allowable five-year extension. Neither the United States nor Russia met that deadline. The U.S. Army, responsible for leading the American chemical weapon destruction program, accomplished approximately ninety percent of the goal by the specified deadline, but noted that it will take until the fourth quarter of 2023 some eleven and a half years beyond the supposedly final date to eliminate the remainder. Moscow managed to destroy only about sixty percent of its inventory by the target date. Yet, despite its initial inertia, Russia is now moving considerably faster and projects to complete the remainder of its chemical weapon destruction operations by about Some experts, however, are skeptical of Russia s ability to meet that target and would add two or three more years to the prediction. It must be acknowledged that the job of destroying this amount of chemical detritus is a severe challenge. The munitions are old, fragile, and diverse, and they occasionally leak; the chemicals are extremely hazardous and sometimes congealed into rubbery heels of hard-to-destroy residue. The inventory was not constructed with the possibility of safe destruction in mind and operators have had to innovate suitable procedures, equipment, and facilities. The CWC allows each party to determine for itself which destruction technology to use, with the exceptions of forbidding open-pit burning, land burial, and dumping into a body of water. The treaty also appropriately stipulates that in chemical weapon destruction operations, each party shall assign the highest priority to ensuring the safety of people and to protecting the environment. Still, the timetable in the order of destruction must be met. Three fateful factors contributed to the U.S. failure to meet the treaty s deadline. First, mismanagement, poor oversight, and mangled lines of bureaucratic supervision led to much of the delay. Many government programs suffer notorious cost overruns and schedule delays, but the record of the chemical demilitarization campaign is even worse than most. The Government Accountability Office has issued dozens of reports criticizing various aspects of the administrative operations; the Department of Defense has largely concurred in the analyses and pledged, though not always successfully, to do better. 2 Second, because the chemical weapon stocks were stored at eight disparate locations around the continental United States, the Army had initially contemplated relocating much of the ordnance into a few

6 58 the fletcher forum of world affairs The point is that the United States is currently violating a central provision of a major arms control treaty, and it has no one but itself to blame. centralized repositories to allow for more efficient, larger-scale operations. However, in response to constituent opposition to such transport, Congress forbade the interstate shipment of these fragile and dangerous paraphernalia, requiring investment in multiple, arguably redundant facilities. 3 Third, domestic politics led to the introduction of new technologies for destroying the chemical weapons, causing further delay. A series of technical studies by the National Academies of Sciences validated the safety and effectiveness of incineration as the preferred methodology for eliminating most of the U.S. chemical weapon stocks. Accordingly, the Army adopted plans to construct a series of state-of-the-art furnaces and other facilities at the storage locations, which eventually succeeded in destroying ninety percent of the inventory within the treaty s timetable. However, some local communities resisted, horrified by the prospect that smokestacks might spew even minute quantities of such lethal substances into the environment. Again, Congress responded, mandating the use of alternative technologies such as chemical neutralization and additional processing at two sites Lexington, Kentucky and Pueblo, Colorado that together held about ten percent of total U.S. chemical weapons. 4 Unfortunately, the process of designing, developing, constructing, testing, and obtaining federal and state environmental and safety permits for these alternative technology facilities has consumed an inordinate amount of time. Construction is now proceeding apace at both locations, but the current timetable has Pueblo beginning its chemical weapon destruction operations in 2015 and finishing in Lexington, which holds only 1.7 percent of the original stocks, will start destruction operations in 2020 and finish in The point is that the United States is currently violating a central provision of a major arms control treaty, and it has no one but itself to blame. None of the usual legal excuses that are sometimes available to mitigate a delict of an international agreement doctrines such as impossibility or changed circumstances are applicable here. The United States has neither contested its prima facie failure to meet the CWC deadline nor advanced any defense against the legal conclusion. In sharp contrast, the United States regularly monitors other countries performance regarding their obligations under the CWC. It has vigor-

7 INDISPUTABLE VIOLATIONS: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE UNITED STATES UNAMBIGUOUSLY BREACHES A TREATY? 59 ously pressed those who have fallen short even on secondary matters, which include the failure by some parties to designate a National Authority as a central point of contact for CWC matters or the absence in some states of domestic legislation to ensure that private parties honor treaty provisions. But in this instance notably a much more important failure to comply with one of the treaty s central obligations the United States is unwilling even to concede that the vocabulary of breach or non-compliance is applicable. American diplomats have restricted the analysis to a neutral comment, noting that the United States has simply been unable to meet the deadline. 5 The United States and Russia are behaving in good faith in pursuing chemical weapon destruction albeit at a dilatory pace and do not retain any viable military advantage from their prolonged possession of these largely obsolete and dysfunctional munitions. There is no doubt that the two countries will eventually achieve the CWC s desired end state: complete eradication of the toxic threats. Likewise, neither country has retreated from the demand that all other parties must remain equally resolute in their rejection of chemical weapon use. But, for at least the next eleven years, the United States will stand in stark, unexcused violation of this central international legal obligation. THE VIENNA CONVENTION ON CONSULAR RELATIONS The 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) is the leading international instrument on the status, rights, protections, and responsibilities of consular officials inside a receiving state. 6 One hundred and seventy-three parties have joined the treaty and it is widely regarded as one of the foundation stones of normal international relations. Article 36 of the VCCR stipulates that when a party arrests, imprisons, or detains a foreign citizen, it must inform him without delay of his right to have his consul notified of the adverse action and to communicate with his home authorities. The consul s office will then be in a position to visit the detainee, monitor the situation, and offer whatever assistance or support it deems appropriate. This protection may or may not be of great practical value to the detainee; there is no guarantee that the consul will provide legal advice, investigatory assistance, or diplomatic pressure for release. But some states, such as Mexico, regularly extend these important services to their nationals in times of need. The fundamental notion is that the sending state should have an opportunity to look after its people and the treaty-required notification of arrest is where this supervision begins.

8 60 the fletcher forum of world affairs When U.S. law enforcement authorities arrest or detain foreign nationals, they fail, dozens of times annually, to advise them of their rights and to notify the appropriate consuls. The United States exercises its VCCR rights on a daily basis inside foreign countries and relies upon the other treaty parties to advise American arrestees of their right to contact U.S. official personnel. In 2010, American consular officers conducted 9,500 prison visits and assisted 3,500 U.S. citizens arrested abroad. The formality sometimes carries little value, but in potentially abusive and hostile environments American intervention can be quite important. For example, the VCCR formed a critical part of the U.S. legal action against Iran after the seizure and detention of American embassy personnel in Tehran during the hostage crisis of In 2009, two U.S. citizens, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, were arrested for illegally crossing from China into North Korea. They were held by North Korean officials for months, interrogated, tried, convicted, and sentenced to twelve years of hard labor. They experienced what they described as weeks of isolation where their only contact with the outside world was visits from the Swedish ambassador. Since U.S.-North Korea diplomatic relations are suspended, Sweden agreed to assert U.S. rights under the VCCR. These brief consular visits convinced Lee and Ling that outsiders had not forgotten them and, as Lee put it, [they] protected me from any physical mistreatment by my captors. 7 However, the United States routinely violates the VCCR. When U.S. law enforcement authorities arrest or detain foreign nationals, they fail, dozens of times annually, to advise them of their rights and to notify the appropriate consuls. 8 The individual arrestees, often unaware of the treaty and its provisions, do not affirmatively solicit assistance from their consuls; likewise, the consuls, ignorant of the fate of their citizen, are unable to reach out with any support. Often, the alien is tried, convicted, sentenced, and incarcerated in a routine fashion before anyone notices that the VCCR might be relevant. At that point, a perverse Catch-22 situation arises: if the noncitizen fails to raise a complaint about the VCCR violation at the trial level including if he fails to assert the argument because he was never advised of his rights under the treaty U.S. law determines that his claim has been permanently waived. This procedural default rule precludes the breach from being remedied, or even considered, in subsequent proceedings or appeals.

9 INDISPUTABLE VIOLATIONS: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE UNITED STATES UNAMBIGUOUSLY BREACHES A TREATY? 61 The fundamental reason for persistent American non-compliance is that most law enforcement activity in the United States is conducted at the state and municipal levels, not at the federal level. Local police may have little training and even less interest in international legal affairs. They may have never heard of the VCCR or may not have a standard routine for implementing its requirements. Conversely, Department of State officials, who are keenly aware of the reciprocity value of adherence to the treaty as a lifeline for Americans arrested abroad, have little power to ensure adherence to the treaty mandate inside the domestic U.S. system. The Department of State has prepared and promulgated voluminous training materials to inform and instruct local law enforcement officials about the VCCR. It has recently released the third edition of its manual Consular Notification and Access, 9 distributed over one million sets of briefing materials, and issued 70,000 pocket cards for law enforcement officials to carry. But the Department of State cannot ensure that the training is undertaken or heeded. The violation scenario is therefore replayed with distressing frequency year after year, with foreigners from many countries denied the protection that the treaty was intended to ensure. On three separate occasions, the ICJ has heard complaints against the United States on these grounds. These are open-and-shut violations: Department The only persistent difficulty in these cases concerns the remedy what, if anything, can the U.S. executive branch do under the Constitution to correct the failures of local law enforcement and preclude their repetition? of State lawyers have explicitly conceded the U.S. deficiency. 10 The only persistent difficulty in these cases concerns the remedy what, if anything, can the U.S. executive branch do under the Constitution to correct the failures of local law enforcement and preclude their repetition? The first such case, arising in 1992, involved Angel Breard, a Paraguayan citizen charged with attempted rape and capital murder in Arlington, Virginia. Breard was not afforded the requisite VCCR disclosures; the Paraguayan consul was not engaged in a timely manner; and Breard was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. While he was on death row, Paraguay sued the United States in the ICJ, alleging the violation of the treaty and demanding some form of fresh judicial process for him. While the case was pending, the ICJ sought to freeze the status quo in anticipation of an upcoming oral argument, and ordered the United

10 62 the fletcher forum of world affairs States in the interim to take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Angel Francisco Breard [was] not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings. 11 The United States took the extraordinary step in the ICJ of admitting that the failures of Virginia authorities constituted a U.S. breach of the treaty and formally apologized to Paraguay. 12 Secretary of State Madeleine Albright sent a letter to Virginia Governor James S. Gilmore III requesting a stay of execution, since execution of Mr. Breard in the face of the Court s April 9 action could be seen as a denial by the United States of the significance of international law and the Court s processes in its international relations and thereby limit our ability to ensure that Americans are protected when living or traveling abroad. 13 Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that although the United States had thwarted its international obligation by failing to provide prompt consular notification, under applicable U.S. procedural rules Breard had forfeited his VCCR claim by failing to assert it at the outset of the criminal prosecution. 14 Shortly after that decision, Governor Gilmore rejected relief, and Breard was executed by lethal injection. 15 A similar drama played out only a few years later, when German brothers Karl and Walter LaGrand were arrested in Arizona. Like Breard, they were not afforded the mandatory VCCR disclosures, even after the police became aware of their foreign nationality. Both brothers were tried, convicted for murder, and sentenced to death. After years of appellate litigation and diplomatic wrangling, Karl LaGrand was executed on February 24, Walter LaGrand s execution was scheduled for a few days later and Germany filed an emergency suit against the United States in the ICJ. The ICJ issued a preliminary order against the execution, which the U.S. federal government determined it could not enforce by itself, but which it communicated to Arizona Governor Jane Dee Hull. Governor Hull rejected clemency, and Walter LaGrand was executed. As in Breard, the U.S. government was forced to concede in oral and written ICJ proceedings that it had failed to comply with Article 36 of the VCCR. It apologized to Germany and offered assurances that it would try to avoid repetition. Germany nonetheless asked the ICJ to obtain more definitive assurances of effective implementation of the treaty by the United States, and more meaningful responses to any future breaches. The ICJ ruled that the United States would have to develop a mechanism of its own choosing for review and reconsideration of any conviction and sentencing that would be affected by another treaty violation. 16 In 2003, a third case arose over a group of fifty-one Mexican citi-

11 INDISPUTABLE VIOLATIONS: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE UNITED STATES UNAMBIGUOUSLY BREACHES A TREATY? 63 zens, each of whom had been processed through the U.S. judicial system and sentenced to death without VCCR protections, despite the U.S. assurances about not replicating the violations of Breard and LaGrand. In a case denominated Avena, the ICJ again ruled that the United States had clearly violated the treaty and ordered that the fifty-one Mexicans were entitled to review and reconsideration. The Court noted with concern that there remain a substantial number of cases of failure to carry out the obligation to furnish consular information to Mexican nationals, but it appreciated the United States good faith efforts to implement the obligations incumbent upon it. 17 In 2005, President George W. Bush determined that the United States would discharge its international obligations by having state courts give effect to the decision, and he sent a memorandum to that effect to the relevant state authorities. In Texas, the test case involved Jose Ernesto Medellin, who had been convicted of murder. Texas authorities declined to offer relief, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the President lacked constitutional authority to compel state officials to conform. Medellin was then executed. These cases are far from simple. They raise some of the most complicated points of international and U.S. constitutional law, and of the relationship between competing authorities at the global, national, and state levels. One point, however, remains crystal clear: Article 36 requires the United States to provide consular notifications, and the United States repeatedly fails to do so. Good faith attempts at remediation and reform, as well as the bromides from both Democratic and Republican executive branch leaders have persistently proven unavailing. In 2005, frustrated with the inability to ensure compliance and embarrassed by repeatedly losing slam dunk cases in the ICJ, the United States withdrew from the optional One point, however, remains crystal clear: Article 36 requires the United States to provide consular notifications, and the United States repeatedly fails to do so. protocol to the VCCR. 18 This maneuver does not terminate U.S. participation in the whole treaty the United States still sustains the agreement as a vital vehicle for protecting U.S. citizens who are incarcerated abroad and is still legally obligated to perform reciprocal duties but it does remove the mechanism that allows other parties to bring suit against the United States in the ICJ. So the U.S. violations continue, but the avenue

12 64 the fletcher forum of world affairs for attaining international judicial accountability is foreclosed. By the same measure, the United States can no longer protect U.S. nationals abroad by bringing its own suits in the ICJ. In 2011, Senator Patrick Leahy introduced the Consular Notification Compliance Act, designed to facilitate compliance with the VCCR notification requirements and the fulfillment of the U.S. commitments undertaken in the ICJ proceedings. Despite The current situation continues to reflect the persistent asymmetry in international practice; the United States remains a party to the VCCR and derives the anticipated benefits when a U.S. national is arrested abroad, yet repeatedly fails to reciprocate. strong endorsement by the Obama Administration, however, prospects for this legislation remain unclear. Therefore, the current situation continues to reflect the persistent asymmetry in international practice; the United States remains a party to the VCCR and derives the anticipated benefits when a U.S. national is arrested abroad, yet repeatedly fails to reciprocate. In a 2010 Department of State report on U.S. practice in international law, the government dryly asserted, the United States takes its obligations under the VCCR very seriously, while somehow expressing a perverse pride in noting that the Department receives only about [fifty] complaints a year from foreign governments that consular notification has not been provided, and many of these complaints are not meritorious. 19 UNITED NATIONS DUES The third case study, the recurrent U.S. failure to pay its assessed dues to the UN, is in some ways the simplest and most obvious. Here, the default is not accidental nor is it the unintended byproduct of bureaucratic bungling, misbegotten technologies, or ineffective coordination among executive, legislative, and state authorities. Instead, the whole purpose of the failure to pay has deliberately been to violate U.S. treaty obligations, and to do so in an ostentatious, threatening fashion. The UN Charter specifies that the expenses of the Organization shall be borne by the Members as apportioned by the General Assembly. On most matters, the General Assembly plays only a recommendatory role; but on budgetary questions it is a true legislature authorized to specify, via a two-thirds vote, the legal obligations of members. 20

13 INDISPUTABLE VIOLATIONS: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE UNITED STATES UNAMBIGUOUSLY BREACHES A TREATY? 65 The overall financial structure of the UN defies easy explanation. The total costs are sometimes divided into separate accounts for the regular budget (for the primary functions of the institution), the budget for specialized agencies and other members of the UN family, the costs of various international peacekeeping operations (now totaling seventeen missions on four continents) and other categories. The money comes both from assessed dues and from members voluntary contributions which may seem less reliable than mandatory dues, but which account for well over half of the organization s finances. The grand total of UN spending now tops $30 billion annually. 21 The UN Committee on Contributions has the primary responsibility for recommending the scale of assessments to the General Assembly, based on each member state s ability to pay, accounting for factors including per capita income, relative share of the world economy, and debt burden. The minimum allocation, paid by thirty-nine countries, is percent of the regular budget, or about $26,000. The United States assessments are currently 22 percent of the regular budget and percent of the peacekeeping budget. 22 This amounts to a total annual contribution of about $2.5 billion. As a reflection of its preponderant role in the world economy, the U.S. share of UN dues is by far the largest of any country. It would be an even greater percentage if the members had not agreed to artificially cap a state s maximum possible dues. The problem is that the United States routinely does not cough up its assessed dues. Over the years, the United States has repeatedly withheld, reduced, or delayed its required annual contribution in protest over a wide variety of UN actions. On occasion, the United States has interrupted its assigned payments or threatened a financial veto with respect to specific, unwelcome UN programs or actions. 23 In addition to these targeted cuts, the United States has sometimes unilaterally inflicted an across-the-board withholding of a percentage of its assessed dues as a way of reducing the overall U.S. government budget. 24 Sometimes, Congress has been the locus of the resistance to meeting the U.S. dues commitment. Even if the President wanted to satisfy an international legal obligation, under the U.S. system, the Treasury can ordinarily make no disbursements without legislative authorization and appropriation. If Congress were to decline the funds, the President would be unable to sign the checks. Other times, the legislative branch supports the UN, but the executive branch withholds payment to make a point or exert political pressure. 25 Either way, the United States tries, in effect, to single-handedly convert the overall dues obligation into an à la carte whim, funding selected activities but shunning others.

14 66 the fletcher forum of world affairs Missed payments are not forgiven or forgotten; they accumulate into an arrearage. Many countries occasionally or routinely pile up such backlogs; yet, the United States has consistently stacked up the largest and most persistent debt to the UN. In 1998, for example, the U.S. arrearage rose to a then-record $1.58 billion. It took prolonged negotiation, brokered by U.S. Senators Jesse Helms and Joe Biden, to create a watershed compromise, under which the UN agreed to reduce future U.S. annual assessments, and the United States agreed to pay down the past-due accounts. 26 Still, the protagonists had to rely upon private charity, in the form of a $34 million gift offer from businessman and philanthropist Ted Turner, to patch the finances together and close the deal. 27 For most of the past decade, the U.S. arrearage has fluctuated between one and two billion dollars, creeping higher in recent years. By the end of 2011, the deficit stood at $855 million (roughly twenty-seven percent of the world s total arrearages), and by May 2012, it had swollen to about $1.25 billion. 28 Controversy has occasionally arisen regarding the actual size of the deficit as the United States and the UN disagree over important bookkeeping details, such as the proper reimbursement for logistical support the United States provides to peacekeeping operations. Contested arrearages aside, it is clear that the United States consistently fails to pay its assigned dues on time and in full. The primary enforcement mechanism for the dues obligation, pursuant to Article 19 of the Charter, is that a state that falls in arrears by two years shall have no vote in the General Assembly. The General Assembly may waive that sanction if it finds that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the The irregularity of financial contributions from the United States and other members has caused severe difficulties for efficient planning and consistent operations of the UN. Member, as is currently the case for six impoverished states. 29 The irregularity of financial contributions from the United States and other members has caused severe difficulties for efficient planning and consistent operations of the UN. Financial stringency, especially in hard times, is one thing; unpredictability of funding, especially on such a large scale, can be disabling. Meanwhile, the demands placed upon the UN including U.S. requirements for programs ranging from civil aviation, to food safety, to patent protection have not abated, nor are they compatible with irregular funding.

15 INDISPUTABLE VIOLATIONS: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE UNITED STATES UNAMBIGUOUSLY BREACHES A TREATY? 67 This article is not the place to rehearse the legitimacy of various U.S. complaints about UN operations, or to assess the sometimes-salutary effect of selective withholding of dues as a tactic for inducing needed reforms in organizational behavior. Rather, the point is simply to observe that a very important treaty, namely the UN Charter, requires dues, and the United States has conspicuously breached that obligation by deliberately failing to pay. This posture is ironic given the United States history of pressing other states, notably the Soviet Union, over their failure to share equitably the institution s financial burdens. During the 1950s and 1960s, the General Assembly initiated UN peacekeeping operations in the Congo and in the Middle East, which roiled Cold War tensions and global politics. In protest, the USSR and France, along with scores of other states, began withholding their dues payments and ran up significant arrearages. Crisis loomed in 1964, when the Soviet backlog approached the two-year point. The United States asserted that when the arrearage reached that level, the suspension of the Soviet vote in the General Assembly would be mandatory and automatic, and that the Soviet Union would not be eligible for a waiver, since non-payment was not beyond the control of Moscow. 30 The United States prepared and distributed a strong legal brief pleading for strict compliance. The Soviets threatened to leave the UN if deprived of their vote. The UN treaded water for months, nervously agreeing to conduct the entire session of the General Assembly without calling any record votes. Eventually, the protagonists fashioned a crude compromise that created an alternative mechanism for funding critical peacekeeping operations, afforded France and the Soviet Union a face-saving path to begin working down their arrearages, and dodged insolvency for the UN. 31 In grudging acceptance of this accommodation, Arthur Goldberg, the U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN, announced, if any Member can insist on making an exception to the principle of collective financial responsibility with respect to certain activities of the organization, the United States reserves the same option to make exceptions if, in our view, strong and compelling reasons exist for doing so. There can be no double standard among the members of the organization. 32 Goldberg s predecessor as U.S. ambassador to the UN, Adlai E. Stevenson, had made the point with exquisite clarity: The UN is faced with a financial and constitutional crisis which must be solved if the Organization is to continue as an effective instrument. The Charter cannot be ignored. Faith cannot be broken. Commitments must be met. Bills must be paid. 33 Unfortunately, international politics soon turned in a different direction. By the 1970s, the United States had conspicuously lost the

16 68 the fletcher forum of world affairs prior automatic majority it had enjoyed in the General Assembly and meaningful votes began to swing routinely against U.S. positions. As the organization resisted Washington s preferences, enthusiasm for the institution and support for fully funding it waned. Instead of championing the UN, the United States became a reluctant funder and a routine debtor. Sometimes, instead of exerting its financial leverage via the dues allocation to extort reforms in UN institutional practices, prompt changes in policies, and punish wayward programs, the United States has withdrawn altogether from selected UN agencies. The United States left the International Labor Organization in 1977, citing anti-u.s. politicization within the organization; it later re-joined in Similarly, the United States exited UNESCO in 1984, complaining about the organization s mismanagement and anti-western bias, and did not return until (In fact, in 2011, the United States halted its $60 million dues payments to UNESCO after the organization admitted Palestine as a member, but the United States did not withdraw.) While withdrawal is a more severe step than the suspension of dues payments, it is at least a lawful maneuver; withdrawal terminates the obligation to pay future assessments, as well as the opportunity to participate in the Uncle Sam the Deadbeat has repeatedly failed to pay its aliquot share of the costs. Some impoverished states sometimes cannot pay their just debts; the United States can pay, but sometimes just decides not to. organization s decision-making and to benefit from its programming. The United States is not only the founder, host, leader, and main benefactor of the UN, it is also arguably its biggest beneficiary, as global programs related to public health, human rights, environmental degradation, natural disasters, and counter-terrorism get shortchanged without U.S. financial support and leadership. But Uncle Sam the Deadbeat has repeatedly failed to pay its aliquot share of the costs. Some impoverished states sometimes cannot pay their just debts; the United States can pay, but sometimes just decides not to. IMPLICATIONS OF THE REPEATED VIOLATIONS So what? Why does it matter that the United States violates treaties, and occasionally does so without a shred of legal cover? Perhaps that is the realpolitik privilege of the global hegemon: to be able to sustain hypocrisy,

17 INDISPUTABLE VIOLATIONS: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE UNITED STATES UNAMBIGUOUSLY BREACHES A TREATY? 69 asserting that its unique international responsibilities and its exceptional position in the world enable the United States explicitly to welch on its debts, fudge on its obligations, and adopt a do as we say, not as we do approach with other countries. However, there is a cost when the world s strongest state behaves this way. One potential danger is that other countries may mimic this disregard for legal commitments and justify their own cavalier attitudes toward international law by citing U.S. precedents. Reciprocity and mutuality are fundamental tenets of international practice; it is foolhardy to suppose that other parties will indefinitely continue with treaty compliance if they feel that the United States is taking advantage of them by unilateral avoidance of shared legal obligations. So far, there has not been significant erosion of the treaties discussed in the three examples. The United States and Russia will fall years short of compliance with the CWC destruction obligations, but other parties, with the notable exception of Iran, have reacted with aplomb, comfortable with the two giants unequivocal commitment to eventual compliance. Likewise, the VCCR is not unraveling, even if other states lament the asymmetry in consular access to detained foreigners. And while many states pay their UN dues late and build up substantial arrearages, that recalcitrance seems to stem more from penury than from a deliberate choice to follow the U.S. lead. But that persistent flouting undermines the treaties and by extension, it jeopardizes the entire fabric of international law. Chronic noncompliance especially ostentatious, unexcused, unjustified noncompliance also sullies the nation s reputation and degrades U.S. diplomats ability to drive other states to better conform with their obligations under the full array of treaties and other international law commitments from trade to human rights to the Law of It is shortsighted and selfdefeating to publicly and unblushingly undercut the system that offers the United States so many benefits. the Sea. The United States depends upon the international legal structure more than anyone else: Americans have the biggest interest in promoting a stable, robust, reliable system for international exchange. It is shortsighted and self-defeating to publicly and unblushingly undercut the system that offers the United States so many benefits. It is especially damaging when, following an indisputable violation, the United States acknowledges its default, participates in an international dispute resolution procedure, and

18 70 the fletcher forum of world affairs apologizes but then continues to violate the treaty. The CWC implementation bodies, the International Court of Justice, and even the UN General Assembly and Security Council are unable to effectively do much to sanction or penalize the mighty United States, but it is still terrible for U.S. interests to disregard those mechanisms. CONCLUSION A unifying theme underlies the three violations described above. They all rely upon an insidious combination of a constitutional design that automatically elevates domestic U.S. law above international law; a superpower status that enables the United States to default on treaty obligations without risking immediate meaningful adverse consequences; and a domestic legal and political culture that too often disregards international affairs and foreign opinion, with the result that our government s violations attract little popular attention and outrage. At this point, little can be done to remedy these three specific violations. The 2012 CWC deadline has passed, and even heroic and expensive remedial efforts today could not destroy the remaining chemical weapons much faster than the current The violations of Consular Relations obligations are not inevitable, but the Department of State can do little to compel state and local law enforcement officials to be more attentive to a treaty that they have no perceived stake in upholding. enterprise. The violations of Consular Relations obligations are not inevitable, but the Department of State can do little to compel state and local law enforcement officials to be more attentive to a treaty that they have no perceived stake in upholding. The United States persistent withholding of dues to the UN and its constituent bodies is a deliberate political choice by congressional and executive leaders who profess little shame in driving the country into violation of its international legal commitments. Our perspective in reflecting upon the three indisputable violations, therefore, must be forward-looking. International law affords a state multiple options when confronting a proposed treaty that it largely agrees with, but for which it doubts its ability to fully comply. The state may propose key alterations during the treaty negotiations or, if the document has already been concluded, it may propound amendments. Often, it can join the treaty with reservations,

19 INDISPUTABLE VIOLATIONS: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE UNITED STATES UNAMBIGUOUSLY BREACHES A TREATY? 71 which create certain legally allowable unilateral exemptions. Sometimes, the wise course is to delay joining the treaty until the state can be certain of its ability to comply. If it has already joined, it might take advantage of a withdrawal clause to exit the accord. But in the interest of international credibility of the state and the international mandate, what it should not do is to join the treaty unconditionally, accept the full array of legal obligations, demand that other countries extend to it the promised benefits, and then undeniably flout its responsibilities. The United States has too often embarrassed itself by playing fastand-loose with international law and there is plenty of blame to spread around. Sometimes Congress has been at fault; sometimes it was the executive branch in the lead. Sometimes the in the long-run, lawless behavior is unsustainable; elevating domestic policy preferences above binding international legal obligations is profoundly not in the U.S. interest. violation is deliberate; at other times it is an unintended consequence of other policies or failures. But what these three unlovely cases have in common is insufficient attention to the obligation to faithfully execute a treaty as supreme law and that failure is both foolish and illegal. This is not an argument that the specific costs of these particular indisputable violations are, or will soon become, unbearable. The United States is so big and powerful and international law is so underdeveloped and flimsy that in the short-run a superpower can get away with these transgressions. But in the long-run, lawless behavior is unsustainable; elevating domestic policy preferences above binding international legal obligations is profoundly not in the U.S. interest. Even if the feeble enforcement mechanisms of the international community cannot compel the United States to honor its commitments, the country itself should work to promote the rule of law by its deeds as well as by its rhetoric. John Jay warned in Federalist Paper No. 64 on March 7, 1788, that a treaty is only another name for a bargain, and that it would be impossible to find a nation who would make any bargain with us, which should be binding on them absolutely, but on us only so long and so far as we may think proper to be bound by it. President Obama made the same point in his celebrated April 5, 2009 speech in Prague: Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something. That is true, even for the United States.

20 72 the fletcher forum of world affairs ENDNOTES 1 See: U.S. Department of State, Treaties in Force 2011, treaty/tif/index.htm (identifying hundreds of bilateral and multilateral treaties in force for the United States on a wide range of subjects); U.S. Department of State, Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments, 2011, available at gov/t/avc/rls/rpt/ htm (expressing judgments about other states conformity with arms control agreements). 2 See: U.S. Government Accountability Office, Chemical Weapons and Materiel: Key Factors Affecting Disposal Costs and Schedule (GAO/NSIAD-97-18, February 1997); U.S. Government Accountability Office, Chemical Weapons Disposal: Improvements Needed in Program Accountability and Financial Management (GAO/NSIAD-00-80, May 2000); U.S. Government Accountability Office, Chemical Weapons: Sustained Leadership, Along with Key Strategic Management Tools, Is Needed to Guide DoD s Destruction Program (GAO/NSIAD , September 2003). 3 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995, Public Law , sec. 143, 108 Stat (1994), 50 U.S.C.A. 1512a (prohibiting transport of a chemical weapon outside the state in which it was located on October 5, 1994). 4 In a series of enactments, Congress directed the U.S. Army to pursue alternatives to incineration of chemical weapon stocks. First, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989, Public Law , 101 Stat. 1019, sec. 125, December 4, 1987, required the Department of Defense to evaluate non-incineration technologies and present to Congress an alternative concept plan by March 15, Then, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993, Public Law , 106 Stat. 2315, sec , October 23, 1992, required additional study of alternatives to incineration. Next, the National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year 1997, Public Law , 110 Stat. 2422, October 1996, sec. 142, required further study and demonstration of alternatives. Then, the 1997 Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, Public Law , sec. 8065, required pilot funding for two non-incineration alternatives. The Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for FY 1999, Public Law , sec. 142, reorganized the Army s chemical demilitarization apparatus and underscored the pursuit of alternatives to incineration. The Military Construction Appropriations Act of 2000, Public Law , sec. 131 and the Fiscal Year 2000 Supplemental Appropriations, Public Law , 114 Stat. 511 (2000), prohibited construction of any chemical weapon destruction facility at Lexington until six different alternatives to incineration were demonstrated. Finally, the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2001, Public Law , sec. 151, limited the operations at Pueblo to incineration and the alternative technologies that had been demonstrated by May 1, Statement by U.S. Ambassador Robert P. Mikulak at the 16 th Session of the Conference of the States Parties, OPCW, C-16/NAT.31, November 29, 2011, 2; Statement by Ambassador Robert P. Mikulak, United States Delegation to the OPCW at the 65 th Session of the Executive Council, EC-65/NAT.8, July 12, 2011, 2. 6 A consul is similar to a diplomat, functioning to promote commercial relationships between the two states and to protect the interests of tourists and visiting businesspeople from the sending state. 7 Euna Lee, Consular Access: A Two-Way Street on a Crucial Right, Washington Post, June 26, U.S. Department of State, Digest of U.S. Practice in International Law (2010), 25,

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE APPLICATION INSTITUTING PROCEEDINGS filed in the Registry of the Court on 2 March 1999 LAGRAND CASE (Germany v. United States of America) 1999 General List No. 104 I. THE

ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT IMPROVING THE RESOLUTION OF TAX TREATY DISPUTES (Report adopted by the Committee on Fiscal Affairs on 30 January 2007) February 2007 CENTRE FOR TAX

EXTRADITION UP-TO-DATE FULL TEXT TRANSLATIONS of the EXTRADITION LAW 5714-1954 and the EXTRADITION REGULATIONS (LAW PROCEDURES AND RULES OF EVIDENCE IN PETITIONS) 5731-1970 1. Extradition only under this

Contents Chapter 21 PRIVILEGES and IMMUNITIES INTRODUCTION Foreign Service employees and family members serving abroad need to understand the scope and limitations of the privileges and immunities that

SAN FRANCISCO ADMINISTRATIVE CODE CHAPTER 96: COORDINATION BETWEEN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE OFFICE OF CITIZEN COMPLAINTS SEC. 96.1. DEFINITIONS. (a) "Chief of Police" shall mean the Chief of the Police

CHAPTER 13: International Law, Norms, and Human Rights MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. Why did the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, state that the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 was illegal?

Chapter 93B. Occupational Licensing Boards. 93B-1. Definitions. As used in this Chapter: "License" means any license (other than a privilege license), certificate, or other evidence of qualification which

ARBITRATION RULES OF THE COURT OF ARBITRATION AT THE POLISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Chapter I Introductory provisions 1 Court of Arbitration 1. The Court of Arbitration at the Polish Chamber of Commerce (the

1 Option 1: Use the Might of the U.S. Military to End the Assad Regime The Syrian dictatorship s use of chemical weapons against its own people was terrible. But we must not let it overshadow the larger

By Andrey Zelenin, Lidings Law Firm Debt collection in Russia Foreign companies doing business in Russia generally have several main options of dispute resolution to choose: (i) international commercial

THE CITY OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE NOTICE OF RULEMAKING Pursuant to the power vested in me as Commissioner of Finance by sections 389(b) and 1043 and 1504 of the New York New York City Charter,

Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated April 22, 1998 220-I On limited liability companies and additional liability companies (with alterations and amendments as of 29.12.2014) CHAPTER I. General provisions

Civil Procedure Code 7 Part : Arbitration Title : General Provisions Art. 5 Scope of application The provisions of this Part apply to the proceedings before arbitral tribunals based in Switzerland, unless

CURRENT FEDERAL LAWS PROTECTING CONSCIENCE RIGHTS Over the past forty-one years, numerous federal laws and regulations have been enacted to protect rights of conscientious objection. Many of these laws

MINNESOTA S EXPERIENCE IN REVISING ITS JUVENILE CODE AND PROSECUTOR INPUT IN THE PROCESS September 1997 In 1991, Minnesota began a major effort to substantially revise the laws governing our juvenile justice

PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE UK THE CONSERVATIVES PROPOSALS FOR CHANGING BRITAIN S HUMAN RIGHTS LAWS HUMAN RIGHTS IN CONTEXT Britain has a long history of protecting human rights at home and standing

Professor of Civil Law, University of Tartu On Effect of Constitution on Bankruptcy Law Pursuant to 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, the state authority is exercised solely pursuant to

Accountability Report Card Summary 2013 Massachusetts Massachusetts has a relatively good state whistleblower law: Scoring 64 out of a possible 100 points; and Ranking 11 th out of 51 (50 states and the

FIFTH REVIEW CONFERENCE OF THE STATES PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION AND BWC/CONF.V/COW/WP.28 STOCKPILING OF BACTERIOLOGICAL 27 November 2001 (BIOLOGICAL) AND

10-181 The Secretary of State presents her compliments to Their Excellencies and Messieurs and Mesdames the Chiefs of Mission and wishes to reaffirm, as the exclusive driver licensing authority for members

Approved: by the General Meeting of Georgian Securities Central Depository October 25, 1999 RULES OF THE GEORGIAN SECURITIES CENTRAL SECURITIES DEPOSITORY ON SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES TBILISI 1999 Introduction

13-20-801. Short title Colorado Revised Statutes Title 13; Article 20; Part 8: CONSTRUCTION DEFECT ACTIONS FOR PROPERTY LOSS AND DAMAGE 1 This part 8 shall be known and may be cited as the Construction

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSESSMENT OF CIVIL PENALTIES AGAINST FEDERAL AGENCIES UNDER THE CLEAN AIR ACT The Clean Air Act authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency administratively to assess civil penalties

Updated July 2015 REVISITING DIRECTOR AND OFFICER INDEMNIFICATION: PROVISIONS IN THE NEW D.C. NONPROFIT ACT 1. Initial Considerations The District of Columbia has recently modernized its statute dealing

Mexico Rodolfo Trampe, Jorge Díaz, José Palomar and Carlos López Market overview 1 What kinds of outsourcing take place in your jurisdiction? In Mexico, a subcontracting regime (understood as the regime

FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT ON INTEGRATED CROSS-BORDER MARITIME LAW ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA PREAMBLE THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED

FINAL ACT OF THE VIENNESE MINISTERIAL CONFERENCES (MAY 15, 1820) The sovereign princes and free cities of Germany, mindful of the obligation they assumed upon founding the German Confederation to safeguard,

1811 ~ Civil Service Law SECTION 75 A Basic Primer Since 1910 CSEk New York's LEADING Union 143 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12210 Danny Donohue, President csea, Inc. I Updated January 2013 CSEA

Naime Ahmeti A DEFENDANT RIGHTS OF THE DEFENDANT IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS ABSTRACT Rights of the defendant in criminal proceedings are guaranteed by the Constitution and the Criminal Procedure Code of Kosovo,

Act No. 204 Public Acts of 2012 Approved by the Governor June 26, 2012 Filed with the Secretary of State June 27, 2012 EFFECTIVE DATE: June 27, 2012 Introduced by Rep. Shaughnessy STATE OF MICHIGAN 96TH

California Judges Association OPINION NO. 56 (Issued: August 29, 2006) ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS WHEN A JUDGE OR A MEMBER OF A JUDGE S FAMILY HAS BEEN ARRESTED OR IS BEING PROSECUTED FOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney. Be it enacted by the People of the

Federal Register Vol. 58, No. 190 Presidential Documents Monday, October 4, 1993 Title 3 The President Executive Order 12866 of September 30, 1993 Regulatory Planning and Review The American people deserve

(129th General Assembly) (Amended Substitute House Bill Number 380) AN ACT To enact sections 2307.951, 2307.952, 2307.953, and 2307.954 of the Revised Code to require claimants in asbestos tort actions

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL AUDIT SERVICES March 24, 2015 Control Number ED-OIG/A05N0012 James W. Runcie Chief Operating Officer Federal Student Aid U.S. Department

Draft Resolution for the United Nations Human Rights Council 30 th Session, September 14-25, 2015 Situation of Human Rights in Venezuela The Human Rights Council, Guided by the Charter of the United Nations

Removal of Youth in the Adult Criminal Justice System: A State Trends Update Rebecca Gasca on behalf of Campaign for Youth Justice Juvenile Court founded in 1899 to create a separate justice system for

English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force. Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) 235.1 of 19 June

Law of the People s Republic of China on Lawyers Order of the President of the People s Republic of China No. 76 The Law of the People s Republic of China on Lawyers, revised and adopted at the 30th Meeting

DISRUPTIVE OWNERS AND THE HOA; DEALING WITH GOVERNMENT; AND DEALING WITH THE MEDIA DEALING WITH THE DISRUPTIVE OWNER--"AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION" There is nothing an association can do in advance that will

LAW NO. 40/2006 OF 25 AUGUST 2006 LAW ON THE ORDER OF PRECEDENCE OF THE PROTOCOL OF THE PORTUGUESE STATE Pursuant to Article 161 c) of the Constitution, the Assembly of the Republic decrees the following:

NOTICE This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and may not be cited as precedent by any party except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e(1. 2015 IL App (4th 150340-U NO. 4-15-0340

European Court of Human Rights Questions & Answers Questions & Answers What is the European Court of Human Rights? These questions and answers have been prepared by the Registry of the Court. The document

Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others Approved by General Assembly resolution 317 (IV) of 2 December 1949 Preamble Entry into force:

NOTICE This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and may not be cited as precedent by any party except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e(1. 2015 IL App (4th 130903-U NO. 4-13-0903

Lesson Overview Overview: This lesson will teach students how the legal system works and how a case progresses through the state courts. Objectives: Students will be able to Define key terms related to

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this handbook is to provide answers to some very basic questions that inmates or inmates families might have regarding the processes of the criminal justice system. In no way

COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW Tom Ginsburg, University of Chicago Law School July 30, 2008 Constitutional review is the power to examine statutes and government actions for conformity with the constitution.

PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES FOR COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE 1 INTRODUCTION 1.01 The essence of Collaborative Practice in a Family Law setting is the shared belief of the participants that it is in the best interests

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE COLORADO JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE NUMBER 171-13-63 A. SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION 1. The United States Department of

LAW GOVERNING THE EXERCISE OF THE RIGHT OF PETITION Note: Text of Law no. 43/90, as published in Series I of Diário da República no. 184 dated 10 August 1990, and amended by Laws nos. 6/93, 15/2003 and

1 CREDIT REPORTING c. C-43.2 The Credit Reporting Act being Chapter C-43.2 of The Statutes of Saskatchewan, 2004 (effective March 1, 2005). NOTE: This consolidation is not official. Amendments have been

The codification of criminal law and current questions of prison matters Kondorosi Ferenc Under Secretary of State Ministry of Justice Hungary Criminal law is the branch of law, in which society s expectations

New South Wales Witness Protection Act 1995 No 87 Status information Currency of version Current version for 5 October 2012 to date (generated 10 October 2012 at 19:15). Legislation on the NSW legislation

Chapter 57D. North Carolina Limited Liability Company Act. Article 1. General Provisions. Part 1. Short Title; Reservation of Power; Definitions. 57D-1-01. Short title. This Chapter is the "North Carolina

PENNSYLVANIA SUNSHINE ACT 65 Pa.C.S.A. 701 701. Short title of chapter This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Sunshine Act. 702. Legislative findings and declaration (a) Findings.--The General